Akram Zaatari: The Script

Venue, Timing and Cost

Venue:

Modern Art Oxford

Date(s):

Saturday, 23 March 2019 to Sunday, 12 May 2019

Timing:

10AM-5PM

Cost:

Free Event

Modern Art Oxford presents a solo exhibition of works by renowned Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari (b. 1966, Saida, Lebanon). This thought-provoking show explores Zaatari’s on-going fascination with how people choose to present themselves to the outside world.

The exhibition includes a major new video work, The Script (2018), which is born out of the artist’s research into online content connected with the Arab world. Exploring YouTube using relatively neutral search terms such as ‘father and son’, Zaatari discovered multiple films depicting fathers praying. Despite being produced by different men from different regions in the Middle East, Zaatari observed telling similarities in content which depicted men fulfilling the duty of salah – the ritual of five daily prayers undertaken by practicing Muslims – within a domestic setting. As breaking off from prayer is often frowned upon, the fathers continue praying despite their children’s mischievous attempts to distract them. In The Script, Zaatari presents a filmed re-enactment of these touching moments, paying homage to dual commitment to faith and fatherhood. Such tender scenes of domestic life are rarely seen in the Western media’s representation of the Arab world, prompting us to consider whether the men who created these original films may be deliberately attempting to redress the negative view of Islam that has prevailed in recent times.